Sunday, June 14, 2015

Stony Ground

As I read through some of the book of Matthew this morning,
I came across the words of Jesus. Words spoken from a human tongue just like
yours and mine. Released into the air in such a mysterious way so that others
with physical ears to ear, could discern what came forth. Just as you and I
address one another, God wrapped in flesh uttered lovely words of life that
have crossed the great expanse of time. Some were harsh of course but all were
pointing to one thing – man is fallen, drowning in his despicable state and He
came as our One true Light and Hope – our Rescuer.

I seemed to hover over the words of the sower parable,
explained. I was drawn into their imagery and purpose as I read and re-read them.
If there was ever a specific teaching within a parable that seemingly sums up
modern-day Christianity as you and I know it, it would be the explanation of
the seed that was sown on the rocky places. (Matthew 13:20 and 21)

For months now,
I cannot seem to shake an inescapable thought pattern in regards to how I
respond to trials in my life. As I’m quickly nearing forty-two years of age, I
constantly seem to unearth old thought structures that contradict the teachings
of Christ. Years and years of bad doctrines, some self-imposed, some from
preachers who just never took the time to properly explain the Word. Either
way, I truly do relish confronting these traditions and skewed views, thankful that
the Holy Spirit desires to guide me into Truth.

So what about this “rocky ground” allegory that Jesus told
us about? There are some specifics I’d like to draw out, if I may. But first,
let’s state these two verses. “The one on whom seed was sown on the
rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it
with joy;yet he has nofirmroot
in himself, but isonlytemporary,
and when affliction or persecution arises because of theword,
immediately hefalls away.” This one he speaks of received the
truth - willingly and immediately – even joyfully! He embraced it and did not
respond with prideful rejection. However, when affliction and persecution comes
his way, he falls away and intentionally abandons the truth. Jesus tells us
that this is because of several reasons. Let’s dissect them a bit in order to
go a little deeper.

1.He
had “no
firm root in himself”. Have
you ever planted a garden? Perhaps a tree? Right now we have two-inch carrot
sprouts in our garden. They’ve grown from seed, but their roots are surely very
shallow and are not well established at all. Even the slightest tug at the
greens would easily yank the entire young root system right out of the ground. Now,
let’s imagine we walk around to the front of my house. There before us would
stand a towering magnolia tree. I’ve been told it’s at least fifty years old. How
ridiculous would it look for us to attempt to push over this behemoth of a
tree? Its roots are indeed firm, digging deep into the earth-established. We’ve
likely all seen an acorn cracked open, producing a tiny green shoot under a
light bed of leaves. This is the beginning.
How long must it take for that little acorn to grow into a mighty oak that
spreads out tall and wide? How long has the growing process been for our lofty
magnolia? This, my friend is the Christ-life journey. Scores have been told to “just
make a decision” and all will magically be OK. Just attend services, do a Bible
study if you have time and try to hold on until the end. If you encounter
troubles and trials, it’s the devil attacking you and/or you’re backslidden.
However, time and time and time again Jesus tells us in advance there is a
cost. There will be trials. There will be afflictions. There will be rough
times – of growth. So, stay put Believer. Dig your feet down deep into the dirt
of faith and become established in your identity in Christ. Be willing to let
the process of growth run its course. Don’t be as Eve in the Garden and look to
the right and to the left, wondering if there’s a better way outside of the
Father. Keep your eyes fixed on your Hope and Assurance. Get rooted!

2.As we read, this man in the parable “immediately receive(d)
the word with joy”but it was “only temporary”. The Greek word
used here is explained as insinuating a temporal season. From what Jesus
explains, we could easily assume it was a favorable one. Just yesterday I heard
a prominent preacher on the radio speaking of this “favor” of God. He exhorted
his listeners to pursue this “perfect place” of favor from God and somehow
reside there 24/7. Oh how we set each other up for absolute failure! If only
there were a way for me to line up an interview for him to sit down and deliver
this message to the disciples. What of their imprisonment? What of their
persecutions for being named among the followers of Christ? What of their pains
of laying down their livelihoods and worldly comforts to pursue this Christ?
What would you say oh pastor to Stephen as he’s being run out of the city gates
to be stoned by the angry mob? This message is only applicable to we who have a
skewed view of salvation and entirely lack the understanding of walking out the
salvation process. You see, in our
age of Christiandom, we promote excitement and feel-good experiences above all
else. Meetings work people into an emotional frenzy until they “receive the
word with joy”. However it is only “temporary” and too often entirely based
upon immediate response, not longevity. How many “rededications” and “recommitments”
must we all endure? This summed up my meager Christian life for so, so many
years. Too many! I failed to understand that the call of salvation was a
life-long journey of triumphs and
failures. It’s OK friend, to fall. It does not disqualify you or mean you’re
outside of God’s hand. Get up! Remain in the joy of the Lord that is not
circumstantial. Stay spiritually alert and do not allow the word that you’ve
received to only remain as a temporary season.

3.“When affliction or persecution arises because of theword,
immediately hefalls away.” Jesus
is bought and sold like some sort of spiritual drug. A fix that will miraculously
take you out of your predicaments and troubles. Unhappy? Try Jesus! Broke? Give
your money to God (ie: a religious organization) so that you can get more in
return! Depressed? Lonely? Lacking purpose? Just “get God” and all will turn
favorable for you, right? *sigh* Don’t get me wrong, with a life rooted and
established upon the Rock that is Christ, your life will have a much different outcome. That being said, you may or
may not see physical evidence of the fullness of all that is going on in and
around you. A true follower, the “seed on the good soil” follower that we see
in verse 23, is more concerned with enduring the journey all the way to the
end. As Jesus told us in Matthew 24:13, “He that endures to the end shall be saved”. To the end! Also, as I mentioned in
the “root” point earlier, what of those who see every single trial and struggle
as an attack from the enemy meant for harm? Of course this is not entirely
ruled out but all is only an opportunity to see our need for, and reliance
upon, our Heavenly Father. As I feel like I always
say, it’s all about our perspective. We don’t always need to avert every little
thing that attempts to thwart our spiritual growth. In fact, perhaps we should
embrace it and see that oft times it’s been brought our way to conform us into
the image of Christ Himself.

Someone I know is having a
pretty trying time right now in a certain area of life. My initial response in
prayer was to ask the Lord to free them of this burden – to see this trial pass
quickly and become an easier path to be walked out. Quickly, I felt this was an
incorrect prayer, rooted in my own personal convictions and preference. As I
pondered on the spiritual matters that I’m discussing here, I changed my
prayer. My request changed from their being ”delivered from” into their “deliverance
being found in the midst of”, if that makes sense. Too often we want to spare
one another, and ourselves, the inevitable pain and heartache. While this makes
absolute sense in the natural, spiritually speaking we too often attempt to run
off or avoid entirely what was meant to purify us and solidify our faith. When
we do this, we miss what was meant for our good. May we become a people who
embrace the trials rightly - trusting that the Father is fully capable to carry
us, teach us and purify us as we journey along in the dark valleys of life. This
gives so much more weight to the promise that He will never leave us or forsake
us. Praise Him for placing us in opportunities to prove Himself as our All In
All. So when persecutions, trials and afflictions come, what else must we say
but “The LORD also will be a stronghold for the
oppressed, a stronghold intimesoftrouble”.(Psalm 9:9)

To wrap this all up, I’d like to pose an interesting parallel,
I think. I believe there is a deeper significance to why the ground mentioned
in this area of the parable is “rocky” (some Hebrew texts say “stony”). As I
read over this several times, I kept being reminded of the “heart of stone” and
“heart of flesh” event that we hear of back in Ezekiel. God states, “Moreover,
I will give you anew heart and put a new spirit within you; and I
will remove theheart of stone from your flesh and give you a
heart of flesh.” If we could metaphorically say, as we see in
Matthew 13:19, that the ground is the heart (kardia: mind, innermost being of
man), then we could implement the importance of the “Ezekiel heart exchange”. I’ve
explained time and time again the significance of properly understanding that
Jesus doesn’t want to “come into your heart”. Rather, He desires to give you an
entirely new one. I could spend pages explaining why I think this is so key to
understand. The heart of stone (rocky ground) is simply incapable of being the proper
“ground” for spiritual seed to develop and grow. It’s the way that we’ve been
divinely designed. It is imperative for
the ones who truly desire to follow Christ and to become rooted (with endurance)
even when the afflictions come, to grasp this reality. This alone will keep
us from only having a shallow, “good season” based Christianity that is blown
to and fro by the ever changing winds of this life.

We need to be pursuers of Truth. May we, as the followers of
His day, sit at the feet of Jesus. May we be fully engaged in what He is
speaking as well as what the Spirit is saying in this hour. It’s time to be
alert and pressing in-moving forward with our gaze rightly set. We, the Body of Christ, can do it, but not by
accident! And no one can do it for us. May we deliberately set our minds on
things above and walk the path, narrow that leads to the gate, small. It is our
destiny and anything less will never be enough.

2 comments:

Richard B.
said...

Amazingly, for a completely independent reason, I was drawn to the sower explanation yesterday as well. Matthew 13:21 states " ... for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by he is offended." Today's Gospel often misses the fact that trouble comes in general and also because of the Word. Disciples must be ready to fight to stay on the straight, narrow Way. Peace comes in the midst of the storms, not by the lack of them. We cannot let trials impede our growth into HIS Image.

In my haste to actually complete a writing for a change, I failed to elaborate on the "because of the Word he is offended" part. I like how you stated "Peace comes in the midst of the storms, not by the lack of them". So true!

Who writes this stuff?

I'm pretty much your average 44 year old guy that now lives in the beautiful mountains of Southwestern Virginia. I love being a daddy and a husband. I live to be continually conformed into the image of Christ and believe that I exist to bring Heaven down to the earth. I love to challenge what you believe - not so that I can prove that either of us are right or wrong, but to get you to know why you believe what you do.
I'm not into conferences, glory meetings or hyped up Christianity. Nor am I stagnant and zombie-fied in ignorance and spiritual depravity while snoring in a church pew. Are these our only two options? Who will mature in Christ and seek to be conformed to His image above all else?
I used to write.... ALOT. I started two books that have been temporarily "shelved" until some spare time returns.
I long for Christ's sleeping church to awaken and share this whenever I can. I believe and personally know that God speaks to people today. Will you heed His voice?
Feel free to email me at: desh412[at]yahoo.com .